FREEDOM ON THE NET 2023 The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence Baidu's chief executive showcases ERNIE Bot, the company’s AI chatbot, in March 2023. China-based companies like Baidu must implement strict content controls on generative AI products. (REUTERS/Tingshu Wang) when biases embedded in training data are expressed in a program’s outputs. The blueprint also calls for companies to offer people a human alternative to automated systems when appropriate, and to inform people when and how such systems are operating. In July 2023, after the coverage period, the administration secured voluntary commitments from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI regarding AI safety and security. While self-regulation is an important starting point, it must be matched with meaningful oversight. Further executive action was anticipated at the time of writing, but to ensure that AI bolsters rather than harms internet freedom, members of Congress should work with civil society and the executive branch to craft bipartisan legislation that takes a rights-based approach to AI governance and transforms guiding principles into binding law. The EU has developed a sprawling framework that could serve as a global model for AI governance. 20 @freedomonthenet A trust and safety deficit diminishes hope for self-regulation A series of business decisions during the coverage period cast further doubt on the private sector’s willingness and capacity to self-regulate. Across a number of major platforms, teams focused on content, integrity, trust, and safety—including those tasked with setting, maintaining, and enforcing rules for user behavior—experienced a dramatic reduction in staff and resources. Some companies also pared back transparency mechanisms as well as content policies that were intended to reduce the spread of false and misleading information. This shift in priorities suggests that companies have forgotten the lessons from past controversies. The industry’s deficient investments in content moderation around the world, failure to heed calls for extra care during electoral or other sensitive periods, and inadequate adjustments to products and policies in response to crises have all had the effect of inflaming online and offline violence. Nowhere was this shrinking and reprioritization of resources more dramatic than at X, formerly known as Twitter, after it was purchased by tech investor and entrepreneur Elon Musk in October 2022. As part of its mass layoffs, the company dismissed experts on trust and safety, human rights, public #FreedomOnTheNet